1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card transporting device for use in an apparatus capable of projecting a microfilm image on an aperture card or printing said microfilm image as required.
2. Description of the Related Art
An aperture card comprises a hole opening on a rectangular mount, said hole having one or more microfilms adhered thereto. A reader-printer can project and/or print a screen image of the microfilm image on the aforesaid aperture card.
Accordingly, a reader-printer transports and supplies aperture cards loaded in a card stocker to a projection position by means of a card transporting device. After projection, the projected aperture card is discharged to a discharge tray.
FIG. 1 is a section view showing the essential construction of the aforesaid reader-printer.
Reader-printer 1 comprises a projection unit 2 having a light source and lens assembly, an aperture card stocker unit 3, a card transporting device 4 for supplying aperture cards from the card stocker 3 to the projection unit 2 and for discharging the aperture card to a discharge tray, a reader device for projecting the projected aperture card microfilm image onto a screen, and a printer device for reproducing the aforesaid microfilm image.
The projection unit 2 is provided with a pair of glass press plates 8 arranged immediately below the card stocker unit 3, a light source 9 and condenser lens 10 and projection lens 11 arranged linearly so that the pair of press plates 8 are interposed between said projection lens 11 and the condenser lens 10 and light source 9.
The card stocker unit 3 is capable of loading a plurality of aperture cards. The plurality of aperture cards are sequentially supplied one at a time to the projection position between the pair of glass press plates 8 by means of a card transporting device 4.
The reader unit 6 is provided with an oscillatable reader mirror 12 opposite the projection lens 11 and a stationary mirror 13. On the other hand, the printer unit 7 comprises a printer incorporating printer mirrors 14 and 15 and a photosensitive drum 16.
In the drawing, the solid lines describe the reader optical path, while the dashed lines describe the printer optical path.
FIG. 2 is a side elevation view showing the construction of the aforesaid card stocker unit 3 and the card transporting device 4.
The card stocker unit 3 is provided with a base plate 22 upon which are stacked a plurality of aperture cards ap, an output roller 23 and a presser plate 24 respectively disposed at the front and back of the aperture card ap, and a lever 25 and spring 26 for applying force on the presser plate 24 toward roller 23.
The card transporting device 4 comprises an output roller 23 that is rotatable in the arrow direction via a motor, a transport roller 27 disposed downstream from roller 23 in the card transport direction, a reversing roller 28 disposed opposite transport roller 27, a driven roller 29 disposed downstream of the pair of roller 27 and 28 in the card transport direction, a transport roller 30 disposed opposite the driven roller 29, a driven roller 31 downstream from the roller 30 in the card transport direction, and a transport roller 33 mounted to one end of an oscillating arm 32 so as to face the driven roller 30. The transport path 34 for the aperture cards ap is formed so as to lay between the aforesaid rollers 27 and 28, rollers 29 and 30, and rollers 31 and 33.
Beneath the aforesaid transport path 34 is positioned the top opening of the glass press plates 8 for holding the aperture cards in the previously described projection unit 2. Further, a base plate 35 is disposed at the bottom of the pair of glass press plates 8.
When the aperture card ap that has been loaded into the card stocker unit 3 is transported to the projection position of the projection unit 2, each of the rollers 23, 27, 28 and 30 are rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows in the drawing by means of pressing a button on the operation portion, and the aperture cards ap are output one at a time to the transport path 34.
When an aperture card ap is inserted between the glass press plates 8, said insertion is detected by a sensor and the drive rotation applied to roller 23 is stopped.
However, in the aforesaid type of conventional reader-printer a card transporting device must be provided to sequentially transport one card at a time from a plurality of aperture cards loaded in the card stocker unit to the exposure portion. Therefore, the operation of the apparatus is extremely inconvenient when aperture cards are sequentially supplied from the card stocker unit but a single aperture card which has not been loaded into the card stocker is desired as the next card while the projection process is underway.
In other words, the card transporting process first must be stopped, and all the aperture cards loaded in the card stocker removed. Then, the aperture card desired for projection must be loaded in the card stocker, the start button on the operation portion must be pushed and the aforesaid aperture card must be transported to the projection portion.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view showing a part of the transport path to the discharge tray of the previously described card transporting device.
In the drawing, the pair of glass press plates 8 that form the projection position are arranged horizontally in the extended transport path 22. The transport path 22 is provided with a discharge tray 23 at the right end in the drawing. Item 24 is a guide member for the discharge tray 23.
The entrance port of the discharge tray 23 is provided with a discharge roller 32 and a driven roller 32A disposed opposite said roller 32.
Further, the glass pressure plate 8 on one side is mounted so as to be capable of approaching and receding from the other glass press plate 8 by means of a solenoid 34.
The left end of the transport path 22 is provided with a stopper 26, and the center portion of the transport path 22 is provided with a transport roller 31. The driven roller 31A disposed opposite the transport roller 31 is brought into contact with and retracted from said transport roller 31 by means of an arm 35 and solenoid 34. A photoemitter element 37A and photoreceptor element 37B disposed opposite said photoemitter element 37A are arranged in the transport path 22 between the aforesaid transport roller 31 and the discharge roller 32.
The aperture card ap1 supplied from the card stocker unit 3 is transported to the exposure position by means of the counterclockwise rotation of the transport roller 31 (ap2). The aperture card ap2 is discharged by the clockwise rotation of the transport roller 31 and stacked (ap3) in the discharge tray 23 via the clockwise rotation of the discharge roller 32.
In the previously described conventional reader-printer, only the aperture card that has been projected in the projection portion is discharged to the discharge tray by the card discharge device. Therefore, when the operator wants to again project an aperture card which has already been projected once, the operator must remove the aperture card from the discharge tray and load said card in the card stocker unit, such that the handling is unsuitable for a reader-printer. For example, when checking the film images (drawings, for instance) of sequentially projected several aperture cards, the operator may be inconvenienced inasmuch as the transport speed of the aperture cards from supply to discharge is too slow.
Further, the previously described conventional reader-printer is constructed such that an aperture card that has been projected in the projection portion is discharged to a single discharge tray by means of only one card discharge device. Therefore, it is not possible for the operator to sort the successively projected aperture cards by content (type of drawing or the like) or processing method (print size classification or the like), even when such sorting is desired.